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All opinions, statements, explanations, pronouncements, and other notions and ideas expressed herein are solely those of the authors who contribute. Confirmation of truth is not difficult, however iron necks and brass brows can hamper such effort.

Removing The Condemnation

1. (p.7) – “…sons of God who exalted themselves to be gods before the world was made” TPJS 375

2. (p.10) “The things of God are of deep import and time and experience and careful and ponderous and solemn thoughts can only find them out. Thy mind O man if thou wilt lead a soul into salvation must search into and contemplate the darkest abyss and the broad expanse of eternity, thou must commune with God.” DHC vol 3, p. 295

3. (p.21) Joseph wanted to return to the pattern of Melchizedek and Enoch. ref Alma 13:14

4. (p.68) “There has been a great difficulty in getting anything into the heads of this generation. It has been like splitting hemlock knots with a corn-dodger for a wedge, and a pumpkin for a beetle. Even the saints are slow to understand.” DHC vol 6, p.184

5. (p.69) Paul ascended into the third heavens and he could understand the three principle rounds of Jacob’s ladder—The telestial, the terrestrial, and the Celestial glories or kingdoms, when Paul saw and heard things which were not lawful to utter. I could explain a hundredfold more than I ever have of the glories of the kingdoms manifested to me in the vision were I permitted and were the people ready to receive them.

6. (p.76) D&C:130:3 :John 14:23 “The appearing of the Father and the Son, in that verse is a personal appearance; and the idea that the Father and the Son dwell in a man’s heart is an old sectarian notion and is false.”

7. (p.86) Gentiles are to be “numbered among the seed of (Lehi)or counted as part of Lehi’s seed. This was always a part of the gospel. Joseph Smith understood it and practiced it.

8. (p.92) “None but fools will trifle with the souls of men. How vain and trifling have been our spirits, our conferences, our councils, our meetings, our private as well as our public conversations—too low, too mean, too vulgar, too condescending for the dignified characters of the called and chosen of God, according to the purposes of His will, from before the foundation of the world!” DHC vol. 3 pp295-96

9. (p.96) “You must begin with the first and go on until you learn all the principles of exaltation. But it will be a great while after you have passed through the veil before you will have learned them. It is not all to be comprehended in this world; it will be a great work to learn our salvation and exaltation even beyond the grave.”

10. (p.125) “I could explain a hundred-fold more than I ever have of the glories of the kingdoms manifested to me in the vision, were I permitted, and were the people prepared to receive them.” TPJS p. 304

11. (p.134) Joseph never lived to locate the remnant, nor to deliver the Book of Mormon to them, nor to see them return to believe in and obtain a renewal of their covenant with Jesus Christ. He was killed before the work advanced to the point which is called the “commencement” by the Lord in 3Nephi 21:26 -----Joseph was much like the protestant fathers who laid a groundwork for a greater, further return of light. We have neglected or forgotten a great deal of what Joseph was given.

13. (p.154) “I did not like the old man being called up for erring in doctrine. It looks too much like the Methodist, and not like the Latter-day Saints. Methodists have creeds which a man must believe or be asked out of their church. I want the liberty of thinking and believing as I please. It feels so good not to be trammeled. It does not prove that a man is not a good man because he errs in doctrine.” DHC 5: 340

14. (p.156) “It had never entered into [his] heart that all were wrong.”

15. (p.168) Joseph Smith was right about the need to reconnect with God. His first and primary message remains the testimony of James 1:5

16. (p.174) JS-H 1:20 He again forbade me to join with any of them; and many other things did he say unto me, which I cannot write at this time. When I came to myself again, I found myself lying on my back, looking up into heaven. When the light had departed, I had no strength; but soon recovering in some degree, I went home. And as I leaned up to the fireplace, mother inquired what the matter was. I replied, “Never mind, all is well—I am well enough off.” I then said to my mother, “I have learned for myself that Presbyterianism is not true.” It seems as though the adversary was aware, at a very early period of my life, that I was destined to prove a disturber and an annoyer of his kingdom; else why should the powers of darkness combine against me? Why the opposition and persecution that arose against me, almost in my infancy?

17. (p.188) “When you feel pure intelligence flowing into you, it may give you sudden strokes of ideas, so that by noticing it, you may find it fulfilled the same day or soon; (i.e.) those things that were presented unto your minds by the spirit of God, will come to pass; and thus by learning the spirit of God and understanding it, you may grow into the principle of revelation, until you become perfect in Christ Jesus.” TPJS p. 151

18. (p.209) “man can get closer to God by abiding the precepts [of the Book of Mormon] than any other book

19. (p.227) Have we kept in tact everything he handed us through Joseph?

20. (p.232) “If you do not accuse each other, God will not accuse you. If you have no accuser, you will enter heaven, and if you will follow the revelations and instructions which God gives you through me, I will take you into heaven as my back load. If you will not accuse me, I will not accuse you. If you will throw a cloak of charity over my sins, I will over yours—for charity covereth a multitude of sins.” DHC. 4: 445

21. (p.261) “The scriptures inform us that Jesus said, as the Father hath power in Himself, even so hath the Son power—to do what? Why, what the Father did. The answer is obvious—in a manner to lay down his body and take it up again. Jesus, what are you going to do? To lay down my life as my Father did, and take it up again. Do you believe it? If you do not believe it, you do not believe the Bible. The scriptures say it, and I defy all the learning and wisdom and all the combined powers of earth and hell together to refute it. Here, then, is eternal life—to know the only wise and true God; and you have got to learn how to be gods yourselves, and to be kings and priests to God, the same as all gods have done before you, namely, by going from one small degree to another, and from a small capacity to a great one; from grace to grace, from exaltation to exaltation, until you attain to the resurrection of the dead, and are able to dwell in everlasting burnings, and to sit in glory, as do those who sit enthroned in everlasting power.”

22. (p.272) “How vain and trifling have been our spirits, our conferences, our councils, our meetings, our private as well as our public conversations—too low, too mean, too vulgar, too condescending for the dignified characters of the called and chosen of God, according to the purposes of His will, from before the foundation of the world!” (letter from Liberty jail)

23. (p.320) When Joseph received this power (sealing power) it was given in connection with his calling and election made sure. It happened between 1829-1832.However, by 1841 he was no longer able to use it because it had been taken from the church. (D&C 124:28)

24. (p.285) “These [animal] sacrifices, as well as every ordinance belonging to the priesthood, will, when the temple of the Lord shall be built, and the sons of Levi be purified, be fully restored and attended to in all their powers, ramifications, and blessings. This ever did and ever will exist when the powers of the Melchizedek Priesthood are sufficiently manifest; else how can the restitution of all things spoken of by the Holy Prophets be brought to pass. It is not to be understood that the law of Moses will be established again with all its rites and variety of ceremonies; this has never been spoken of by the Prophets; but those things which existed prior to Moses’ day, namely, sacrifice, will be continued.” TPJS, p.173, DHC 4:212

25. (p.327) “During our evening conversations, Joseph would occasionally give us someof the most amusing recitals that could be imagined. He would describe the ancient inhabitants of this continent, theirdress, mode of traveling, and the animals upon which they rode, their cities, their buildings, with every particular; their mode of warfare; and also, their religious worship. This he would do with as much ease, seemingly, as if he had spent his whole life among them.”

27. (p.335) “The Book of Mormon is a record of the forefathers of our western tribes of Indians, “ Smith wrote to N.C. Saxton, editor of a Rochester, New York, newspaper. “The land of America is a promised land unto them,” where they would be instrumental in building a New Jerusalem.”

28. (p.341) He reportedly said “if my life is of no value to my friends, it is of no value to myself.” June 22, 1844 DHC vol. 6 p547 – “About 9 pm Hyrum came out of the mansion and gave his hand to Reynolds Cahoon, at the same time saying, “’ a company of men are seeking to kill my brother Joseph, and the Lord has warned him to flee to the Rocky Mountains to save his life. Good-bye, brother Cahoon, we shall see you again.’ In a few minutes afterwards, Joseph came from his family. His tears were flowing fast. He held a handkerchief to his face and followed after brother Hyrum without uttering a word.”

“You will gather many people into the vastness of the Rocky Mountains as a center for the gathering of the people …you will yet be called upon to go forth and call upon the free men from Main to gather themselves together to the Rocky Mountains; and the Redmen from the west and all the people from the north and from the South and from the East, and go to the West, to establish themselves in the strongholds of their gathering places, and there you will gather with the Redmen to their center from their scattered and dispersed situation, to become the strong arm of Jehovah, who will be a strong bulwark of protection from your foes.” (“A prophecy of Joseph the Seer”, found in The Fate of the Persecutors of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 154, 156.)

“I want to say to you before the Lord that you know no more concerning the destinies of this Church and Kingdom than a babe upon its mother’s lap. You don’t comprehend it. It is only a little handful of Priesthood you see here tonight, but this Church will fill North and South America—it will fill the world. It will fill the Rocky Mountains, there will be tens of thousands of Latter-day Saints who will be gathered in the Rocky Mountains, and there they will open the door for the establishing of the gospel among the Lamanites….This people will go into the Rocky Mountains; they will there build temples to the Most High. They will raise up a posterity there, and the Latter-day Saints who dwell in these mountains will stand in the flesh until the coming of the Son of Man. The Son of Man will come to them while in the Rocky Mountains.” (Millennial Star, vol 54(1852), p. 605.)

29. (p.353) JS-H 1:19 I was answered that I must join none of them, for they were all wrong; and the Personage who addressed me said that all their creeds were an abomination in his sight; that those professors were all corrupt; that: “they draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me, they teach for doctrines the commandments of men, having a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof.”

30. (p.361) “All priesthood is Melchizedek, but there are different portions or degrees of it. That portion which brought Moses to speak with God face to face was taken away; but that which brought the ministry of angels remained. All the prophets had the Melchizedek Priesthood and were ordained by God himself.”

31. (p.363) The sealing authority used by Joseph in December, 1832, was to seal others up to eternal life. D&C 88: 2-4

32. (p.365) “I have tried for a number of years to get the minds of the saints prepared to receive the things of God; but we frequently see some of them, after suffering all they have for the work of God, will fly to pieces like glass as soon as anything comes that is contrary to their traditions: They cannot stand the fire at all. How many will be able to abide a celestial law, and go through and receive their exaltation, I am unable to say, as many are called, but few are chosen.”(DHC 6: 184-185)

33. (p.374) Placing his (Joseph Smith’s) finger on the map (I should think about where Snowflake AZ is situated or it could have been Mexico) he said: “The government will not receive you with the laws God designed that you should live, and those who are desirous to live the laws of God will have to go South. You will live to see men arise in power in the church who will seek to put down your friends and the friends of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Many will be hoisted because of their money and the worldly learning which they seem to be in possession of; and many who are the true followers of our Lord and Savior will be cast down because of their poverty.” Journal of Mosiah Hancock

34. (p.380) “Ordinances instituted in the heavens before the foundation of the world, in the priesthood, for the salvation of men, are not to be altered or changed.” TPJS p. 308

35. (p.387) “Here, then, is eternal life---to know the only wise and true God; and you have got to learn how to be gods yourselves, and to be kings and priests to God, the same as all gods have done before you, namely, by going from one small degree to another, and from a small capacity to a great one; from grace to grace, from exaltation to exaltation until you attain to the resurrection of the dead, and are able to dwell in everlasting burnings, and to sit in glory, as do those who sit enthroned in everlasting power…When you climb up a ladder, you must begin at the bottom, and ascend step by step, until you arrive at the top; and so it is with the principles of the gospel—You must begin with the first, and go on until you learn all the principles of exaltation. But it will be a great while until you have passed through the veil before you will have learned them. It is not all to be comprehended in this world; it will be a great work to learn our salvation and exaltation even beyond the grave. King Follet discourse

36. (p.398) “How much more dignified and noble are the thoughts of God, than the vain imaginations of the human heart! None but fools will trifle with the souls of men.” TPJS p. 137

37. (p.400) Never did any passage of scripture come with more power to the heart of man than this did at this time to mine. It seemed to enter with great force into every feeling of my heart. I reflected on it again and again, knowing that if any person needed wisdom from God, I did; for how to act I did not know, and unless I could get more wisdom than I then had, I would never know; for the teachers of religion of the different sects understood the same passages of scripture so differently as to destroy all confidence in settling the question by an appeal to the Bible.

At length I came to the conclusion that I must either remain in darkness and confusion, or else I must do as James directs, that is, ask of God. I at length came to the determination to “ask of God,” concluding that if he gave wisdom to them that lacked wisdom, and would give liberally, and not upbraid, I might venture.

38. (p.420) “After a person has faith in Christ, repents of his sins, is baptized for the remission of his sins, and receives the Holy Ghost, (by the laying on of hands), which is the first comforter, then let him continue to humble himself before God, hungering and thirsting after righteousness and living by every word of God. The Lord will soon say unto him, ‘Son, thou shalt be exalted.’ When the Lord has thoroughly proved him and finds that the man is determined to serve him at all hazards, then the man will find his calling and election made sure.”

39. (p.455) The “hell” of it all will be our regret, for we are our own tormentor. The torment of a disappointed mind, will be like fire and brimstone to the regretful. TPJS p. 357

40. (p.473) “When you climb up a ladder, you must begin at the bottom, and ascend step by step, until you arrive at the top; and so it is with the principles of the gospel—You must begin with the first, and go on until you learn all the principles of exaltation. But it will be a great while until you have passed through the veil before you will have learned them. It is not all to be comprehended in this world; it will be a great work to learn our salvation and exaltation even beyond the grave.” King Follet Sermon

41. (p.495) “What constitutes the Kingdom of God? An administrator who has the power of calling down the oracles of God, and subjects to receive those oracles no matter if there is but 3, 4, or 6 there is the Kingdom of God.” (William Clayton Journal entry Jan 22, 1843)

42. (p.504) Joseph remarked: “The things of God are of deep import, and time, experience, and careful and ponderous, and solemn thoughts can only find them out”

43. (p.510) “The world always mistook false prophets for true ones, and those who were sent of God, they considered to be false prophets, and hence they killed, stoned, punished and imprisoned the true prophets, and these had to hide themselves ‘in deserts and dens and caves of the earth’, and though the most honorable men of the earth, they banished them from their society as vagabonds, whilst they cherished, honored and supported knaves, vagabonds, hypocrites, imposters, and the basest of men.” (DHC 4: 574)

44. (p.538) Joseph commented that the closer a man draws to God the clearer his understanding will be on all subjects.

45. (p.55)0 “When the Lord has thoroughly proved him and finds that the man is determined to serve Him at all hazards, then the man will find his calling and his election made sure, then it will be his privilege to receive the other Comforter, which the Lord hath promised the saints.”

More Words

"There are men admitted members of this honorable council who are not members of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, neither profess any creed or religious sentiment whatever, to show that in the organization of this kingdom men are not consulted as to their religious opinions or notions in any shape or form whatever and that we act upon the broad and liberal principle that all men have equal rights, and ought to be respected...Hence the importance of thrusting from us every spirit of bigotry and intolerance towards a man's religious sentiments, that spirit which has drenched the world in blood -when a man feels the least temptation to such intolerance he ought to spurn it from him." (The Joseph Smith Papers: Administrative Records, Council of Fifty Minutes pg 97-100)